Marxist Criticism – A Tale of Two Cities
Your group will either examine the novel for evidence that Dickens DID or DID NOT support the French
Revolution (I will assign the groups). Regardless of your side, examine all the questions below. Your
examination should provide you with the evidence needed to support your side.
1. From which class (proletariat or bourgeoisie) do the majority of the characters come?
2. From which class does each of the following characters come?
 Lucie
 Stryver
 Dr. Manette
 Charles Darnay
 Miss Pross
 Jerry Cruncher
 Mr. Lorry
 Ernest Defarge
 Sydney Carton
 Madame Defarge (whose name loosely translated means – of color)
 Monsieur Evrémonde (whose name translated means – sick world)
3. From which class are the characters more interesting?
 Better developed (multiple traits, adequate backstory, etc…)
 More sympathetic?
4. What languages and words does Dickens use to describe each class? (Note: Make certain you
consider English characters and actions in England as well as French)
 To which class would Dickens feel he belonged?
5. Be prepared to report out in 25 minutes
Marxist Criticism – A Tale of Two Cities
Your group will either examine the novel for evidence that Dickens DID or DID NOT support the French
Revolution (I will assign the groups). Regardless of your side, examine all the questions below. Your
examination should provide you with the evidence needed to support your side.
1. From which class (proletariat or bourgeoisie) do the majority of the characters come?
2. From which class does each of the following characters come?
 Lucie
 Stryver
 Dr. Manette
 Charles Darnay
 Miss Pross
 Jerry Cruncher
 Mr. Lorry
 Ernest Defarge
 Sydney Carton
 Madame Defarge (whose name loosely translated means – of color)
 Monsieur Evrémonde (whose name translated means – sick world)
3. From which class are the characters more interesting?
 Better developed (multiple traits, adequate backstory, etc…)
 More sympathetic?
4. What languages and words does Dickens use to describe each class? (Note: Make certain you
consider English characters and actions in England as well as French)
 To which class would Dickens feel he belonged?
5. Be prepared to report out in 25 minutes
MARXIST THEORY
The Marxist approach to literature is based on the philosophy of Karl Marx, a German
philosopher and economist. His major argument was that whoever controlled the means of
production (the factories) in a society controlled the society. Marx noted a disparity in the
economic and political power enjoyed by the factory owners and that allowed to the factory
laborers. He believed that the means of production (i.e., the basis of power in society) should
be placed in the hands those who actually operated them. He wrote that economic and
political revolutions around the world would eventually place power in the hands of the
masses, the laborers. To read a work from a Marxist perspective, one must understand that
Marxism asserts that literature is a reflection of culture, and that culture can be influenced by
literature. Marxists believe literature can instigate revolution.
Four main areas of study:
1. economic power
2. materialism versus spirituality
3. class conflict
4. art, literature, and ideologies
1. Economic Power
• A society is shaped by its forces of production. Those who own the means of production
dictate what type of society it is.
• The two main classes of society are the bourgeoisie (who control the means of
production and wealth) and the proletariat (who operate the means of production
and are controlled by the bourgeoisie).
• Since the bourgeoisie own the means of production—and, therefore, control the
money— they can manipulate politics, government, education, art, and media.
• Capitalism is flawed in that it creates commodification (a desire for possessions, not for
their innate usefulness, but for their social value). Display of material objects is the most
common way of showing off one’s wealth.
• Commodification is one way the bourgeoisie keep the proletariat oppressed.
Whenever the proletariat manages to acquire some sort of status symbol, the
bourgeoisie concocts a new one; thus, the proletariat continues to struggle, never able
to ―catch up.‖
2. Materialism versus Spirituality
• Regardless of what some might claim, social values reflect material goals, not abstract
ideals.
• The material world is the only non-subjective element in a society. Money and material
possessions are the same by every measure within a society, whereas spirituality is
completely subjective.
• The quality of a person’s life is not destroyed by spiritual failure but by material failure.
3. Class Conflict
• A Capitalist society will inevitability experience conflict between its social classes.
• The owners and the workers will have different ideas about the division of the wealth
generated, and the owners will ultimately make the decision.
• This constant conflict, or dialectical materialism, is what instigates change.
• The bourgeoisie present their political, economic, and social structures as the only
reasonable ones.
• The proletariat, indoctrinated from birth to have pride in their station, are prevented
from wanting to overthrow their oppressors (ironically, the smaller and actually lesspowerful group).
Marxist Theory Continued
•
•
•
The only real social division is class. Divisions of race, ethnicity, gender, and religion are
artificial, devised by the bourgeoisie to distract the proletariat from realizing their unity
and rebelling against their oppressors.
Marx called on the proletariat to reject the social structure of the bourgeoisie, the rules
that would keep them subservient forever, and form their own values. Such a course
would be the only way
to escape the oppression, for the proletariat could never defeat the bourgeoisie on its
own terms. For the workers to win, they must establish new terms.
4. Art, Literature, and Ideologies
• Art and literature are among the vehicles by which the bourgeoisie impose their value
system on the proletariat. The arts can make the current system seem attractive and
logical, thus lulling the workers into an acceptance of it.
• Works of art and literature are enjoyable, so the audience is unaware of being
manipulated.
• The bourgeoisie control most artistic output because, whether through patronage or
sponsorship, they are the entity that funds the arts and entertainment. Since the
bourgeoisie materially support the writers and the painters— owning the means of
production as well as serving as primary consumers—the artist must be careful not to
offend bourgeois values. Anything offensive or challenging to the bourgeoisie will simply
not be published or sold.
• Any artist who wishes to criticize the bourgeoisie must do so in a subtle way (satire, irony,
etc.).
Essential questions for a Marxist reading:
• Who are the powerful people in the text? Who are the powerless? Who receives the
most attention?
• Why do the powerful have the power? Why are the powerless without power?
• Is there class conflict and struggle?
• Is there alienation and/or fragmentation evident in any of the characters? If so, in
whom? The powerful? The powerless?
• Do the powerful in the text suppress the powerless? How? News? Media? Religion?
Literature?
• What can you infer from the setting about the distribution of wealth?
• What does the society value? Are possessions acquired for their usefulness or their social
value?
• Is the text itself a product of the society in which it was created? How do you know?
• Is the work consistent in its ideologies, or is there an inner conflict?
• After reading this text, do you notice any system of oppression that you have
accepted? If so, what system, and how do you think you came to accept it?
Examining “Cinderella” from a Marxist Perspective
Consider Cinderella as a representative of the proletariat:
• oppressed by her bourgeoisie stepmother and stepsisters, who have stolen her rightful
inheritance and turned her into a servant in her own home;
• desiring to join the ranks of the bourgeoisie by marrying the prince.
Consider the ball gown, glass slippers, and golden coach as evidence of commodification;
without these possessions, Cinderella cannot hope to rise out of the proletariat and join the
bourgeoisie.